What made you start your own business – how did you get into it?
I always wanted to be the one in charge. I was a child of the 1960s and was going to cure the ills of the world and the only way I could do that was to run the show. Operating within the restrictions of a corporate empire just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Please describe your business, number of employees, etc.
We have a good general practice pharmacy, with a sub-specialty in compounding (the mixing of drugs for both small companion animals and humans). In this part of the city we’ve seen a very steady and growing demand for compounding. Boomers, I think, are the drivers behind this. They have the knowledge and the dollars to demand individualized treatment. Right now we have eight full-timers and a handful of students working part-time. We’ve had some pretty long-term people. One of the pharmacists has been here longer than I have.
What do you like best about running a small business?
It’s the ability to pit your knowledge against the challenges to see if you can be successful at it. That has a financial element to it, a professional element to it and a time management element to it. So it’s the balance of organizing your talents and resources to make it all successful. You have an additional node of the liability of handling a dangerous good, which could be a fatal mistake if not administered or handled correctly.
What were your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Staffing/personnel management seems to be the most challenging and time consuming—keeping staff property motivated and qualified. We have staff meetings to share feedback. We work elbow to elbow and get to know each other well enough so we can talk confidentially and avoid a family crisis. I also try to lead by example by constantly improving my practice. In fact, most recently I attained my Pharm.D from the University of Toronto after six years.
What’s the best advice you would give to someone looking to start their own business?
I would seek a mentor. I had a mentor, my father, who was knowledgeable and understanding and, in some ways rather demanding. We worked side-by-side for 15 years and I learned by observation and by following him. I was lucky. We had a good relationship on two levels.
How has technology helped you run your business better?
Lots of benefits have come from advances in bookkeeping. It used to take us five days to come up with a trial balance on a month-end. Now you push a button and you’ve got one in 30 seconds. Also, we can instantly pull up which people were given a drug that has been recalled. There are still logistical hurdles in health care with getting information from A to B but within our unit we’re running much more efficiently.
How has being a business owner made you a better person?
It’s kept me thinking. It’s kept me aggressive. And it’s kept me from becoming complacent. I’m stimulated to perform, which I think makes me a better person.
How do you connect with your community and what have you done to give back?
We support the local street festival and contribute to the school fairs. Many of us work with U of T’s pharmacy program, teaching as well as developing and administering exams. We support the school newspaper and we even sponsor an intramural hockey team. So we’ve contributed to a bunch of little things around the block as opposed to one big community project.
Where do you see your business 10 years from now?
My ambition is to be the best that I can be for the current times—if this requires another revamping it will get done. With new legislation to make pharmacies more of a focal point of healthcare, pharmacies will perhaps be the first place people go for minor healthcare in the neighbourhood. So I expect this pharmacy will be much more of a focal point in the Annex area.
If you had to do it all over again, you would…
Do just what I’ve always done. I have no regrets. I’ve stubbed my toe, bumped my nose. I’ve had great fun—lots of laughs. Enjoyed some wonderful honours and successes and I don’t think I’d change a bit of it. It was all one great big, wonderful ride and it’s still a good ride. The unknown of tomorrow still makes me want to get up and do it again.
Any words to live by? What’s your credo?
My dad’s favourite saying was it will always be better tomorrow. And somehow he always made it better tomorrow. And maybe that’s why I’m always trying to make tomorrow better than today.
|
